A THIRD TERM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 201, 25 August 1937, Page 11

A THIRD TERM.

ONLY IN EMERGENCY.

MR. ROOSEVELT'S ATTITUDE.

WISHES TO RETIRE IN 1041.

(By 3. R. BAUKHAGE.)

WASHINGTON, July 14. Four months ago the President made his much-quoted statement that his ambition for 1941 is to turn his desk at the White House over to a successor. To-day a new interpretation of that remark can be given authoritatively. Does the President want to run in 1040? He does not—unless ... And the "unless" embodies the condition which might cause him to brush aside nearly a century and a half of tradition and his own personal desires. The reservation is this: A situation may develop by in the field of labour and. industry, or in international affairs, which might threaten to destroy the New Deal's achievements as th£ Great War destroyed Woodrow Wilson's new freedom.. In such a case, the President feels it wouldn't be the moment to swap horses. If the country agreed, he would sit tight. Likes the Job. The flat assurance that the President does not want to run' is made in the face of plenty of surface indications' that he would enjoy the job more or less permanently.

First, he has the physical stamina for it. According to his physician, he is in better health than when he came to the White House. He likes the active life. He can hold a Press conference with a hundred reporters at 10.30 a.m., meet callers right through a desk lunch, preside at a Cabinet session, change to tails for a high tea, shake a thousand hands at a reception, and sneak off to jot down a few notes on a message before bed. Finally, the President would like to see his immediate objectives accomplished before leaving office—a New Deal for the one-third of our population who, he says, are still "ill-nourished, illclaid and ill-housed." * - If War Comes. But in spite of all this external evidence, as it might be called, he's going to step down at the end of his second term, like his predecessors, unless:— ■ The first-catastrophe that him, as the President sees it, is war. That this question is not ail academic one to President Koosevelt can be gathered from his recent letter to the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia: "As Americans, it must be clear to us that a continuation of the existing uncertainties in the international sphere is highly prejudicial to the well-being of the United States. It must be evident that an accentuation of this unsettled conditipn will bring disaster and human suffering beyond the mind of man to grasp." Labour Might, Too.

Catastrophe No. 2 (the one at home) that, might force Mr. Roosevelt into a third term is already envisaged by many in the Labour situation. Right now, organised Labour is split in two, which makes it that much harder for the Government to deal with its leaders. Moreover, the tactics of Mr. Lewis have been followed by a reaction which has made it possible to organise sentiment on the part of the middle-class against strikes, at least of the type the C.1.0. has called, which threatens class antagonism. Either one of these two developments might by 1940 be so diverting the country from its course which the President believes is its that he would feel compelled to stay in the driver's seat.

Why, if the President doesn't want to run, doesn't he say so ? Because that would violate Rule No. 1 of the Executive, who wants to keep his leadership. A flat statement now that he was out of the' race would start half a dozen candidates rupuing their own show. Conferees would forget there was a White House. Reads on Ran. How does the President read the news ? The answer is, he doesn't; at' least, not as the average reader does. His secretaries clip items they think might interest him. They include news stones, editorials, the contributions of certain columnists. V . But> as for skimming through the newspapers, there isn't much time for that even on a week-end cruise when, as last time, he had a 300-page technical report to read, his 'letter to the chairman of House and Senate agriculture committees" to. polish up, and the message accompanying his the Farm Loan Bill. The President seldom reads Wall Street Or sports hews.—N.A.N.A.